A couple of computer questions..?

Question

Ok, so I got a computer, hard-drive part, not monitor etc, from a friend who was going to throw it out anyway. Mainly for schoolwork as my GCSEs are coming up Its quite an old computer I'd take a guess at 1997. I don't know much about it as I haven't received the monitor which I ordered from ebay. It is currently running Xp, and only has 2 usb ports and has those old circular ports for mouse and keyboard.Id say it has under 1 gb of ram and maybe 15gb or so although I'm not 100 percent sure as I haven't had a chance to check.

A few things I want to ask;

Will it support wireless if I get an adaptor for it?

Will my Office 2007 disc that has only been used once on a computer install on it?

Is it still possible to get upgrades for ram etc?

I also have a 'Re installation Vista disc that came with my Dell PC, can I install that, and if so, will it support it?

Also, I ordered a '4 port usb hub' but if my usb ports on the hard-drive are 1.0 will it work?

Many Thanks, RTS

Answer 1

do not install vista, do not install office 2007!  use a free web based thing from google like open office! that computer will buckle under anyhting modern. yeah the USB will still work, but will only have usb 1.0 features even if the 4 port usb is 2.0

and as for memory you could prob get some but it will cost you an arm and a leg, gonna be more expensive than new memory as its not made anymore!

Answer 2

I agree, do not install Vista.  XP is a fine operating system.  Generally you can replace old RAM (memory) sticks with newer larger ones.  Those circular ports for mouse and keyboard are called PS2 ports; they work fine if you can find a PS2 mouse and/or keyboard for them.  Otherwise, yes, XP should be able to find a USB mouse & keyboard if you plug them into the USB ports or probably even a USB hub.  You probably don't have the disk space or speed for Office 2007.  Try the free stuff at www.openoffice.org.

Or, for something really cool, install portable openoffice on a USB drive and run everything from that!  http://portableapps.com/apps/office/open...

Regarding wireless, if you install a wireless adapter (card) then XP should be able to use it (you may have to find a driver).  By the way: once you are networked, run windows update and do all the updates.  This is important.

Answer 3

well first off windows xp didnt come out until 2003 or somethin like that... mouse and keyboard ports are still circles..... the hard drive is not the name for the box that holds all the parts, thats called the case, the hard drive is actualy what stores your data......anything can be upgraded, how far i dont know. if its running XP of course it will support an adapter for wireless, i think office 2007 would work, i think the vista disk would work but i doubt the computer meets the requirements, and i think that covers everythin.

Answer 4

I'll answer as many parts as I can:

It should support wireless if its running windows XP. I would get a USB one, not an internal network card just in case your computer hardware isn't made to accept a desktop network card.

Office 2007 will install, although it will be very slow because of the lack of power your computer has. Most office disks allow you to install and register the software 3 times, which allows you to reformat your computer without buying new software. As long as you have registrations left, it will work. If not, I highly recommend you do a search for openoffice.org It is free software that allows you to do everything office does, and the files are 100% compatible so you can take work from your home computer to a school computer with office with no problems. Just download the software, its 100% free and 100% legal.

For RAM upgrades, I very highly recommend this website:

http://www.upgradememory.com/

I purchased RAM for my laptop from this site. I had a few problems installing it and their customer service support was excellent. They walked me through everything I needed to do. It turned out that the RAM chip was faulty, they quickly shipped me a replacement and it worked perfectly (and still does). Honestly, it was some of the best customer service I'd ever received from any company. Plus their website makes it really easy to find the exact type of RAM you need for your system (they guarentee it will work in your computer or your money back, or in my case, they sent me a replacement that did work). Their prices are pretty competative also.

No, don't try to instal vista. The computer doesn't have enough power to run all the features in vista, plus the installation disk from the other computer is only for that particular computer, it won't work properly on any other computer.

The USB hub should work fine even if the ports are the old kind, because USB 2.0 is backwards compatable. The hub will only be as fast as the ports on the computer, but other than speed, it will work fine.  

Answer 5

It won't support Vista but  the Microsoft Office 2007 will work fine.

RAM is very reasonable for your unit, ($9.98 for a 512 card for 133/100Mhz) just go to http://www.pricewatch.com and find a place near you that has it at a fair price, 512Mb-1G is about all you want to put in an old machine, it won't support any more than 1G anyway, but will support your wireless adaptor and will serve your needs, including the USBs, don't worry about them, they will work fine as long as you have Xp installed.

Answer 6

-Will it support wireless if I get an adaptor for it?

    provided you have an available PCI slot or usb port, yes.

-Will my Office 2007 disc that has only been used once on a computer install on it?

   Check the min sys requirements on the box, if your computer meets it, then yes.

-Is it still possible to get upgrades for ram etc?

   Depends on the motherboard and what is available on it. Find out what kind it is and google it to get all the specs on it.

- also have a 'Re installation Vista disc that came with my Dell PC, can I install that, and if so, will it support it?

   If that is a CD for an OS from a different computer, specified for say, dell, and you are not installing on a dell, it probably will not load.

-Also, I ordered a '4 port usb hub' but if my usb ports on the hard-drive are 1.0 will it work?

    yes, but it will run at 1.0 speed